DEALING WITH INCOME TAXES WITHOUT GOING BROKE

Here is what “How to break into acing, for Dummies” has to say about this oh-so-delicate subject.

Whether we like it or not, we all have to pay taxes. But Paying taxes on your acting income can be a little trickier than paying taxes on your income as a janitor or bank teller or computer programmer. For example, The company that you work for as a computer programmer probably automatically deducts state and federal income taxes out of your paycheck. As an actor, it’s up to you to set aside a certain amount of your acting paycheck to cover any income taxes that you may owe. If you forget to set aside a portion of each paycheck for income taxes, guess what? By the end of the year when you file your tax returns, you may find that you suddenly owe the government a huge chunk of money that your not prepared to pay. Luckily, you can legally reduce how much you pay in income tax on your acting income each year through a little bit of planning and bookkeeping.

Acting is a business. Therefore the government allows you to write off all types of acting expenses up to the income you earned through acting. So if you earned $1,000 for the year, the government may allow you to claim up to $1,000 in acting expenses. (Consult a tax advisor for more details.)

Keep accurate records of your acting expenses or anything remotely related to acting, including the cost of head-shots; printing up your resume; travel expenses to and from auditions; makeup; any meal and lodging expenses incurred while working as an actor; the cost of acting, improv, singing, dancing, and auditioning classes; dry-cleaning costs; postage; gym membership; and anything else that you spend to help your acting career.

NOTE: Any expenses must be used exclusively for your acting career. You cant buy a new wardrobe and a new computer and claim that they’re acting expenses, because they can also be considered personal items.

I must add that its important for us actors to understand the difference between the two types of work situations: We can work with a company or have an employer that automatically withholds taxes and social security fees, OR we can be considered as independent contractors. If we are hired as independent contractors its important to know that we will be paying taxes on a different schedule than others; quarterly instead of yearly. And there is also a special category created by the IRS, “Qualifying Performing Artist” that has its own set of regulations. 

My advice would definitely be to hire a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) who has experience with Actors as he can help you avoid plenty of problems with taxes, deductibles, 1040 forms and payments to Social Security.